Management Fix: Product Backlog Grooming/Refinement

A MngtFix is an actionable solution for a problem with pros and cons to be evaluated by a human manager. Every other week we share a little bit of our knowledge base on social media and our newsletter. This week’s MngtFix is…

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Description

This week’s “Product Backlog Grooming” could be considered a specific solution to teams who are developing products.
On the IT sector within Agile methodologies, “Backlog grooming” is when the product owner and some, or all, of the rest of the team review items on the backlog to ensure the backlog contains the appropriate items, that they are prioritized, and that the items at the top of the backlog are ready for delivery. (learn more at https://www.agilealliance.org/glossary/backlog-grooming/)
As usual, it is a matter of having enough planning to understand where you are going.

Known Associates

This MngtFix has been mentioned in relation to a number of MngtBugs such as…
“Lack of Product Strategy”,
“Lack of Focus”,
“Unrealistic Project Schedule”,
“Lack of Customer Requirements Definition”,
“Unrealistic Goals”,
“Schedule Slippage”,
“Lack of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)”
and of course “Lack of Product Backlog Grooming”!

Application

The MngtFix concept and knowledge base could be used to leverage a number of tools.
One of those tools is the Problem Mapping Technique. It is commonly used as a diagnostic tool for teams and organizations, and a deck of MngtFix cards could leverage its application.

The steps in the Problem Mapping Technique are simple to explain. We should start with the problem, then the 3 main impacts and related trends followed by the 3 main causes. With all this detail in mind, the 3 main solutions must be defined.

Feel free to contact us if you want to run a diagnostic on your team or organization.
Meanwhile, follow us on social media to keep up with Human Mngt and its tools and concepts!

Call to action

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Have a nice week and remember…
Human Managers should strive to be humans while managing and be managed as humans!